Big Brothers
by LifeAnomaly
Summary: The family goes on a weekend vacation and Malcolm and Reese are left home during a blizzard. To make things harder, Malcolm gets sick.


"Boys! Get out here, we're leaving." Malcolm and Reese begrudgingly left their rooms and came into the living room. Lois and Hal were standing there with Dewey.

"Yeah, Mom?" Reese said in a bored voice. Malcolm sighed. Reese was only going to get them into more trouble. Lois fumed at him for a second.

"We'll be back in two days. There's money for pizza on the counter, I want a receipt and exact change. Don't touch any of the tools. We'll call you from the resort when we get there. The number's on the fridge if you need us. Don't go outside without your winter clothes on." Lois said. She gave them a strange look before continuing. "You know, if you two could just learn to behave, you would be able to come with us." She smirked smugly at them and went outside. The sun was setting.

Hal and Dewey looked at the two of them for a minute before following Lois out to the car. They climbed in and drove off with a wave. Reese and Malcolm went back inside. Reese pushed Malcolm forward, hard. He hit the floor.

"Hey, what the hell was that for?" He shouted. Reese jumped on top of him and pinned him. Malcolm was startled to see pure fury gleaming in Reese's eyes. He was a little scared by that.

"This is your fault!" Reese yelled in Malcolm's face. Malcolm flinched at the loud noise. "If you hadn't told Mom that we broke the clock instead of Dewey, then we could go on vacation too. But no, Mr. Genius has got to screw everything up, as always." Reese said. He got off of Malcolm. "I wish you had never been born." He snarled, not registering the hurt that flashed in Malcolm's eyes." He stormed off to his room and slammed the door.

Malcolm sat up and leaned against the wall. Did his family really hate him that much? He felt a tear slip down his cheek. He didn't bother to wipe it away. Malcolm wrapped his arms around his knees and pulled them close to his chest. He sobbed into his knees. He hated his life at this moment. He hated being smart and he hated everything.

Reese fumed at his bedroom wall. He was starting to regret what he had said to Malcolm. But Malcolm had been so stupid. He had told on them. He suddenly froze when he heard soft noises coming from the living room. It sounded like someone was crying. Malcolm! Oh god, now he felt even worse, he'd made his little brother cry.

Malcolm felt as if someone had taken a chisel to his heart. He knew he was different from his family but for them to hate him? It just didn't make any sense. The logical part of his brain tried to reason with the emotional side. Maybe Reese hadn't meant it? Maybe he only said it because he was mad? Malcolm choked on another sob as he thought about it. He knew Reese had meant it. In his heart he knew he was the family outcast.

Reese snuck into the bathroom to get closer to the kitchen. He heard Malcolm choke on a sob and it affected him. He may be a bully but that didn't mean he didn't care. He tried to show he cared in other ways, like protecting them from bullies. He didn't have Malcolm's brain, so he wasn't exactly the best with words.

Malcolm finally cried himself to sleep on the kitchen floor. Reese didn't give it a second thought because he figured that if he moved his brother, he would most likely get punched for it. Little did he know, not moving Malcolm resulted in more disastrous effects.

Reese woke up the next morning to hear someone coughing their lungs out. At least, that's what it sounded like. He crawled out of bed and walked into the kitchen. His eyes widened when he saw Malcolm.

Malcolm was coughing hard. He couldn't sit up and he couldn't catch his breath. Reese hurried over to him and helped him into a sitting position. Malcolm struggled to breathe through the forceful coughing.

That was one of the quirky things about Malcolm. He may have an IQ of 165 but when he started to panic, it was almost like he was dumber than everyone else combined. He was panicking now.

"Malcolm. You have to take slow breaths." Reese said. He didn't know how he knew that but he started rubbing circles on Malcolm's back and he finally started to calm down. Malcolm felt light-headed. Remembering what his brother had said, he pushed Reese away and tried to stand on his own. He came crashing to the floor.

"Look Malcolm, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said yesterday. I wasn't thinking." Reese said. Malcolm looked at him for a moment before glaring. Reese looked surprised. Malcolm looked almost evil glaring like that.

"If you hadn't meant it, you wouldn't have said it." Malcolm said. His voice sounded congested. He used the counter to pull himself to his feet. His head thumped in protest. He looked out the window and saw that it had snowed at least three feet during the night. He must have gotten sick from lying on the floor all night. Reese stood up as well.

"I really am sorry." Reese said. Malcolm just looked at him for a second. "You're always sorry, but you never mean it." he said.

Malcolm walked in the direction of the bathroom when his stomach gave a violent lurch. He rushed into the bathroom and hurled into the toilet. Since he hadn't eaten anything during the night, all he threw up was stomach acid and bile. Reese hesitated in the doorway. He wasn't sure if Malcolm would accept his help or not.

Malcolm climbed to his feet and rinsed his mouth out. He flushed the toilet and got into the medicine cabinet. His hands were shaking. He pulled out the thermometer and stuck it in his mouth. Reese silently marveled at how smart Malcolm was. His younger brother never ceased to silently amaze him. The thermometer beeped and Malcolm took it out of his mouth. His eyes widened slightly when he looked at it. 102.9. This was not good.

Malcolm sterilized the thermometer and ignored Reese as he walked into the room and collapsed on his bed. He put the thermometer on the bedside table and pulled his thin blanket around him. Reese followed him concernedly.

"Are you okay?" he asked. He immediately realized it was a stupid question. Malcolm was sick, probably with the flu, and it was his fault.

"I have a temperature of 102.9 and I just puked my guts up. I've never felt better." Malcolm said. Reese noted the fact he could still make sarcastic remarks was good.

"Can I get you anything?" Reese asked. Malcolm just looked at him for a moment. He saw he was serious. There was no mistaking that look in his eyes. Malcolm shuddered suddenly. Reese disappeared for a moment. He came back with a stack of folded blankets. He put the thickest one on top of Malcolm. It was still snowing hard, he couldn't stop shivering now.

The heat kicked on and both boys sighed in relief. Malcolm got some aspirin out of his bedside table and swallowed it. Reese brought a glass of water and a box of Kleenex and sat it on Malcolm's bedside table. He knew that the aspirin would knock Malcolm out for a few hours.

"Thanks." Malcolm muttered sleepily before dropping his eyes closed. He was snoring softly in a few minutes. Reese kept vigil on Malcolm while he slept. It was two in the afternoon before Malcolm woke up. Reese was reading a comic book.

Malcolm groaned. Someone was drilling a hole in his head. He sat up slowly and took his temperature. It was 103.0. It had only rose a tenth of a degree but it was still bordering on dangerous. He sighed and took a drink of water. Reese put a hand on his forehead. It was hot. He snatched the thermometer away before Malcolm could erase the readings. He eyes bugged out of his head..

"Malcolm if this doesn't go down, you're going to the hospital." Reese said. Malcolm was shocked by the concern in his voice. He shook his head after a minute.

"We're not going anywhere." he said. Reese opened his mouth to tell him off but Malcolm pointed to the window beside Reese' bed. It was half covered with snow. Reese ran to the living room and peered out the glass in the door. The snow was up to the doorknob. Malcolm was right. They weren't going anywhere. Reese walked into the living room. Malcolm had relocated to the couch.

"The snow's up to the front doorknob. We're stuck in here." Reese sat down at Malcolm's head. Malcolm clicked on the TV.

"...and temperatures are expected to get to -6 degrees tonight. So folks, you might want to bundle up. Layer up those comforters." the weatherman said. Reese' eyes widened and Malcolm shivered. He coughed deep in his chest. Reese put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"What are we going to do?" Reese asked. Malcolm shivered and looked at him. "How am I supposed to know?" he asked and then sneezed. Reese looked at him with concern filled eyes.

"You're the genius of the family. I don't know, you usually know an answer for everything. I guess I don't know what we would do without you." Reese said truthfully. Malcolm looked at him with tear-filled eyes. "What's wrong, are you alright?"

"Thanks Reese." Malcolm said.

"For what?" Reese asked.

"Nothing. It's...nothing." Malcolm said. He got up and walked towards the bathroom. He got to the door when his stomach gave another painful lurch.

Malcolm gagged but didn't throw up. He hovered over the toilet, waiting to see if he would puke. After a minute, he was satisfied that he wouldn't. Malcolm peed and washed his hands before going back into the living room. Reese had changed it to the cartoon channel. He was watching something stupid.

Malcolm coughed and sat down next to his brother. Reese gave him a glance but didn't say anything. Malcolm lay down and curled up under the blanket. He was just starting to doze off, when Reese suddenly jumped off the couch. Malcolm jumped in surprise.

"Sorry." Reese said. He walked to the bathroom and closed the door. Malcolm lay out full on the couch. He was asleep by the time Reese came out of the bathroom. Reese just looked at his brother before smiling slightly. He grabbed a blanket and put it on Malcolm. He then sat down in a recliner. Reese turned down the volume on the TV, so it wouldn't wake up Malcolm. He soon fell asleep as well.

When Reese woke up, he was freezing. It was dark outside and all of the lights were off. Reese clicked the remote, trying to turn on the TV but nothing happened. He huffed in annoyance and stood up. He stretched and then looked at Malcolm. Malcolm was sleeping peacefully on the couch. Reese went into the kitchen to see the clock that hung on the wall. It was 8:00 p.m. and the power was out, great. Reese grabbed a soda out of the fridge and walked back into the living room. He saw Malcolm sitting up on the couch and nearly jumped out of his skin.

"The power's out." his little brother said. Malcolm pulled the blankets tighter around himself. Reese sat down next to him. "What do we do now?" he asked. Malcolm just sighed before answering.

"The only thing that we can do is stay warm. We'll have to put on heavy clothes, wrap ourselves in blankets and stay in bed. Since the temperature is going to drop so far, it's going to be a long night." Malcolm said. He sighed again. He stood up and walked towards the room. Reese followed him.

Malcolm walked into the room and immediately began to look for his long johns. He found them and pulled them on over top of his clothes. Reese grabbed a sweater and pulled it on over top of his clothes. Malcolm divided up the blankets into two equal piles. He handed one to Reese. "Don't put them on unless you get cold. You'll get too hot." he said. Reese nodded and crawled into bed. Malcolm crawled into his.

Three hours later, you found Malcolm sleeping fitfully and Reese dozing. Malcolm said something in his sleep. Reese awoke from his doze. He looked over in the dim light and saw his brother, tossing and turning. Reese Climbed out of his bed and into Malcolm's. He lifted the covers, piled a foot high, and slipped in behind him. Malcolm snuggled against him as soon as he was settled. He was shivering.

Reese wrapped his arm around Malcolm's chest and Malcolm gradually stopped shivering. He was sleeping soundly when Reese dozed off again next to him. They stayed like that until morning, when their mother came barging into the house, demanding to know if they were alright, she found them. Curled up next to each other, under a stack of blankets. Apparently Reese did know what a big brother's job was after all.

End.


End file.
